There are currently no functioning synonyms (ask Thesaurus) for the term “lo-fi,” so I’ll spare us all the agony of trying to find a more nuanced way to pigeonhole this band. Fuzzed-out beach rock already feels dead, and it’s not even summer yet.

On their debut, the young Beach Fossils separate themselves from the rest of the pack by coloring the ubiquitous surf-pop sound with a listlessness that makes them seem like weary veterans. While everyone else is applying a fresh layer of sunscreen, Beach Fossils sound like the jaded kids who grew up in a touristy beach town and wouldn’t dream of setting foot on the sand until the last umbrellas come down post¬–Labor Day — but they’re too unmotivated to move away or join their peers.

“I never have plans when it turns to night/Cuz I don’t do nothing but stay inside,” frontman Dustin Payseur half-hums on “Golden Age.” The combo that’s lethal in life — lazy and restless — works magically on the album, drifting by atop dually dark and catchy streamlined melodies, carried by powerful bass lines à la Joy Division’s “Disorder.” It’s a best-case album for beach days foiled by clouds.

MAIN ATTRAKIONZ | 808S AND DARK GRAPES II | September 07, 2011 Following a steady stream of low-budget tracks, mixtapes, and videos posted on their Tumblr this year, the Bay-area stoner rap duo of Squadda B and MondreM.A.N. (a/k/a Main Attrakionz) have raised the stakes by offering up something that resembles a traditional release.

LIL B | I'M GAY (I'M HAPPY) | July 19, 2011 Gone are the endless declarations of hoes on his dick in groups of 30 and 100; gone are the claims that he is everyone from Ellen Degeneres to Miley Cyrus.

SHABAZZ PALACES | BLACK UP | June 09, 2011 The musical reincarnation of Ishmael Butler, the elusive Seattle rapper who makes up one-third of the semi-popular '90s jazz-rap act Digable Planets under the name Butterfly, is a lot to unpack.

FRIENDLY FIRES | PALA | June 07, 2011 For a densely layered, expertly produced dance-rock album, this second full-length from British three-piece Friendly Fires is perplexingly bland.